In La Liga, although Vallecano is not a prominent division, it has risen to the top this season, like a black horse, with 30 points after 18 rounds of play, ranking fourth in the table, even one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, showing strong competitiveness. This matchup is undoubtedly a key battle for the two teams to qualify for the top four.
For Atletico Madrid, a 442 formation was lined up with Suarez and Correa as the double strikers, with Lemar, Kondogbia, De Paul and Carrasco in midfield, Lodi, Hermoso, Jimenez and Trippier in the backline, and Oblak in goal, in a team that has been valued at a total of €360 million.
In contrast, Rayo Vallecano's starting lineup is a 4231, with Sergi in the center, and the total valuation of the starting lineup is only 32.5 million euros. Notably, Rayo Vallecano's goalkeeper is Luca Zidane, son of French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane, while former famous striker "Tiger" Falcao sits on the bench.
At the beginning of the match, the more powerful Atletico took the offensive advantage. In the 14th minute, Ray Zidane made a mistake and gave the ball to Atletico's forward Luis Suarez, but the Uruguayan's shot failed to hit the target. In the 15th minute, Suarez took another shot after a break in front of the goal, but it was not strong enough and Zidane Jr. pounced on it. In the 22nd minute, Suarez had a one-touch chance, but his shot went wide.
Although Suarez's form has dipped compared to his former peak, his striker partner Correa's performance was quite bright. In the 28th minute, Carrasco crossed the ball from the baseline, El Mozo's shot was blocked, and Correa made up for it to give Atletico a 1:0 lead.
Atletico extended their lead to 2-0 in the 53rd minute when Lodi crossed for Correa to score again.
Suarez was replaced by Cunha in the 72nd minute and Rayo Vallecano replaced Falcao in the 75th minute.
In the end, thanks to Correa's two goals, Atletico won 2:0 at home against Rayo Vallecano, ending their four consecutive defeats and moving up to fourth place in the table with 32 points.
